US Laboratory Disputes Handling Mohbad's Toxicology...

The Lagos State Government claimed that a toxicology test was performed at the National Medical Services Laboratories in Pennsylvania, USA, to determine the reason for singer Ilerioluwa Aloba's (also known as Mohbad) death. However, the administration of the National Medical Services Laboratories has denied this.

Punch contacted the NMS Labs, who then disclosed the information in response. Remember how a pathologist testified before the Coroner's Court on May 15th, saying that because Mohbad's corpse had deteriorated, an autopsy could not determine the cause of death. Sometime in November 2023, O. Akinde, the state government's attorney, informed the Coroner's Court in the state's Ikorodu district that a toxicology test—a component of an autopsy used to ascertain Mohbad's cause of death—had been carried out in the United States.

The toxicology test is being carried out at the NMS Labs in Pennsylvania, USA, according to state Commissioner for Information and Strategy Gbenga Omotoso, who made this claim in response to questions during a live phone conversation with Ahmad Isah, the anchor of the online programme Brekete Family, which is based in Abuja, sometime in February 2024.

Omotoso stated in a live broadcast; “The matter is being handled by the state DNA and Forensic Centre, but they are doing skeletal services, and they have affiliate centres which are three.

So, if there is an emergency like this one that we have, they will not say they cannot handle it. So, there are three of them in the US and the one handling this particular one is the NMS in Pennsylvania, USA.” 

According to reports, the test result reached Nigeria at some point in April 2024 and was given to a pathologist for analysis. The pathologist told the coroner's court that because Mohbad's body had decayed, the autopsy was unable to determine the cause of his death.

Punch then sent the aforementioned lab to inquire about whether or not a toxicology test had actually been carried out at their establishment to ascertain Mohbad's cause of death.

In response to the correspondence dated May 17, Esther Dede, a Client Services Associate in the Forensics Division of NMS Labs, denied that Mohbad's toxicology test was carried out in any of their facilities, as stated by the state government.

“Unfortunately, we do not have a case for that patient. To maintain our compliance with HIPAA privacy regulations, we would need authorisation from the submitting agency.”

That is the name of the lab that the state DNA and Forensic Centre gave to Omotoso, the Commissioner for Information, when he was approached on Wednesday.

“This was what I was told by the Lagos State DNA and Forensic Centre officials who took the sample there. We are dealing with the officials of the centre, they have three other labs that they have affiliations with. If they have an emergency, they can go to any of the three labs. I asked which particular one did they go to and they answered it was that one. That means I will have to go and check again because that was what I was told.”

On September 12, 2023, Mohbad passed away at the age of 27, and the circumstances surrounding his passing sparked debates on social media. Mohbad, a former signee of Naira Marley's Marlian Music record label, departed the label in February 2022. A 13-person special investigation team was established by the Lagos State Police Command on September 18, 2023, to look into the singer's death.